The BC Northern Exhibition has had some big events, in recent years, but none bigger than 2015.
They had their own centennial, they had their relaunch as the BCNE after years as the Prince George Exhibition, but board president Alex Huber said that was all just preparation for this year's edition of the regional fall fair.
"The biggest fair we ever did was in 2012, our fair's centennial, but this year, it is bigger. We have more activities planned this year than even that event," he said. "This year, for the first time, we are holding a five-day fair to commemorate the city's centennial. We have also added a bunch of important features, and we have had a surge in entries for the different activities we do - more horses in the equestrian events, more 4-H entries, more motocross participants, we have the rodeo back again, our heritage section, even our home arts and horticulture exhibits - everything grew."
The BCNE board hopes the audience will grow, as well, thanks to the renewed momentum and another important decision they implemented. Prices have been slashed and the past practice of charging money for parking has been discontinued - free parking, and adults pay $10 to get in (less for students, seniors, the disabled) while children 11 and younger are free.
Most activities inside the fair are free, once you're past the gate, with normal exceptions like eating food or riding the midway features.
"This is a family event, so we want families to come see the fair," said Huber. "We could tell from what people were telling us that the ticket prices were a barrier, so we addressed that directly."
For those on the tightest of budgets, the fifth day on the agenda - Wednesday - is entirely free to attend. Not every element of the BCNE will be in full operation, but Sneak Peek Day is to let the public get a taste of the full fall fair meal.
Speaking of meals, the Northern Taste Market is back in operation this year, after heralded success at last year's BCNE. This is the food fair and chef competition going on throughout the fair, and again it is hosted by TV host and bestselling author Bob Blumer. Huber said this was where the public can be immersed in fine dining "like octopus ink with apple sauce - you've got to come try that" while the outside food court has its usual treats like cotton candy and mini-doughnuts.
"The food court is even bigger this year," said Huber. "I don't know where all this growth is coming from, but we have never been able to get more than a dozen food vendors to set up at the food court area. This year, we have 17 vendors. It has been incredible."
The history pavilions have also exploded, said Huber, so much so they had to change the name. No longer can they call it Heritage Lane, because so many history-themed displays asked for inclusion that they had to beef it up to Old Town.
Getting back to the roots in a modern context is what the fair organizers have focused on in the past few years. Last year "we had to change people's minds about what we were capable of, and how the fall fair of today is up with the times and thinking what modern society is thinking about, so that's why you had (star actor) Ron Perlman live in person and why you had a major rock band like Alice In Chains on our stage," said Huber. "But this year, we had to take some practical steps to capitalize on that new way of thinking, so that's why we're presenting Prince George's first full rodeo in more than 12 years, and why we have a huge motocross event, and a $5,000 singing competition, so we touch on all those segments of the population, and at a high level."
There will even be a big screen at the food court to show audiences there what is happening during the rodeo events and the motocross races.
"The public has already come to us in a big way, to make this such a big event this year, so now we just want to open the doors and get new levels of audiences in to see it," Huber said.
The BCNE opens Wednesday and runs until Aug. 16.
